Leading the league in points per possession doesn't qualify him for a max contract? Especially for a 22 year old who averaged over 17 points per game? Has position versatility and is known as the hardest worker his teammates have ever seen?
http://www.basketballanalyticsbook.com/2015/05/06/the-nbas-most-underrated-player/
I've mentioned this before, but that link / article really needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Much of what's in that link is meaningless and uses cherry picked stats to try to sell an opinion.
Very little in there actually holds much merit.
Also it doesn't say anything about him leading the league in points per possession. It says he lead the league in points per possession
on post up plays. Overall, he's really not that efficient a scorer.
To put it into perspective, Harris averaged 17.1 points on 14.4 field goal attempts. That's 1.229 Points Per FGA.
Kelly Olynyk averaged 10.3 points on 8.3 field goal attempts. That's 1.241 points per FGA.
To give you an idea on how that stacks up against other guys in the league, our veyr own Isaiah Thomas averaged 19.0 points on 13.6 field goal attempts, which equates to 1.397 points per FGA.
Paul Pierce for his career averaged 20.7 points on 15.2 field goal attempts - an average of 1.36 points per FGA.
As a general rule, you can look at PTS/FGA something like this:
[a.] < 1.2 = Poor efficiency
[b.] 1.2 - 1.6 = Below average efficiency
[c.] 1.6 - 2.2 =Average efficiency
[d.] 2.4 - 3.0 = Above average efficiency
[e.] 3.0 - 3.6 = Good efficiency
[f.] 3.6 - 4.2 = Excellent efficiency
[g.] > 4.2 = Elite efficiency
Tobias Harris is in category B along with Kevin Garnett.
Remember this is NOT a measure of how capable a scorer somebody is - it's a measure of how
efficient a scorer is. How many shots do you need in order to get your points.
Of course this stat favors guys who:
1) Get a lot of their points from three point shots (a bonus point for every 3PT made)
b) Get a long of their points from the foul line (a bonus point for every FT made)
c) Shoot high percentages from the field (more FGM relative to FGA)
KG didn't get to the line much and rarely took threes, but he still has an above average efficiency (if not a great one) simply because he was always up around the 50% FG mark.
Isaiah Thomas has a crazy high number because:
1) He takes, and makes, a lot of threes at a solid percentage (career 36.3%)
2) He gets to the line a lot (48.1% FTR) and makes them at a high percentage (career 86% FT)
3) He shoots a decent percentage on 2PT shots (career 48.8%)
Harris is definitely a reasonably efficient scorer, but he's by no means an amazingly efficient one.
This is because:
a) He make an average number of threes (1.3 3PM Per 36 minutes) at a decent but not elite percentage (36.5%)
b) He doesn't get to the line that well (25.8% FTR) and shoots a decent but not elite percentage (78%)
c) He shot a decent but not great percentage on 2PT (50%)